How to Build Big Relationships with Small Gatherings

with Nick Gray

About the Episode

This week’s show features Nick Gray ,a serial entrepreneur who has been living in Austin, Texas for the past two years. After moving to New York City in his mid-20s without any friends, he quickly adapted to the hustle and bustle of the city by walking up to 10,000 steps each day. Inspired by his love of museums, Nick created Museum Hack – a business that provides renegade museum tours led by stand-up comedians and Broadway actors. Museum Hack quickly became a multimillion dollar business, offering team building activities to businesses and companies across the United States. 

We discuss Nick’s book: “The 2-Hour Cocktail Party: How to Build Big Relationships with Small Gatherings.” Nick shares tips for improving event attendance and hosting successful parties. He discusses the use of icebreakers, delegating duties, and communicating the end time of a party. Additionally, Nick shares his experience with starting Museum Hack and provides tips for building confidence as a new host. Tune in for great advice on turbocharging connections with guests and making hosting parties a habit.

Sometimes we hide our intention of hosting a gathering simply because we are insecure about the place we live. It’s not about the place, but the people we are with. The more you let people know who exactly you are, the more you connect with them. Nick shares that a small space is far better than a larger space to have a gathering because the interaction and energy levels are higher between people.

Wrapping up the conversation, Nick mentions some ideas you can use to collaborate with kids at your parties. You can hire a babysitter and offer childcare or host a simultaneous kids’ party to do fun things, says Nick.

Topics Discussed

Making friends [05.07]
Starting the conversation, Nick explains why it is difficult for adults to make friends. 
Cocktail party vs Dinner party [09.50]
Nick shares the reason behind choosing the title cocktail party instead of a dinner party and the difference between the two. 
Start small [5.01]
Start small by inviting close friends, neighbors, and work buddies for a low-stakes party.
Attendance [30.37]
Nick shares the steps you have to take to boost the attendance of your party with RSVPs, reminder messages and guest bios.
Name Tags [37.06]
We talk about the importance of name tags at parties. 
Icebreakers [39:00]
How icebreakers are used to get people talking and meeting new people at parties.
How to end a party [48:42]
nd party 15 minutes before scheduled time, turn off music and lights, tidy up and thank guests for coming.

Connect with Nick Gray

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